BMW and M Power Owners

[TW]Fox;28208212 said:
I don't think there is any point spending more than £8k on one, true 'minters' rarely really exist and with an £8k one you can spend the money that needs spending on pretty much all of them much easier.

They are all old cars, a 'minter' is probably just as in need of a suspension refresh as an £8k one.
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Define "minter". For me, a "minter" would mean all original parts with full BMWSH, no rust, no resprays spotless interior and high spec.

sigma said:
Yeah, I think you've hit the nail on the head there, Fox.

The more I look into it the more I'm wondering whether to get one, considering the potential for hassle. The thing is, I can't see anything better for the money, nothing is quite as special whilst still being relatively practical. For under £10k nothing much can match it.
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They are a hassle because you will always find something that needs doing on it even if it's not out of necessity it will be something minor like an oil leak, or a warning light on the dash that intermittently appears.
 
Spec is irrelevent really as 'mint' is surely about condition. For me, a 'minter' would have 4 matching premium tyres, a spotless service history, limited to no cosmetic defects and no components in need of replacement in the near future.

panthro said:
something minor like an oil leak, or a warning light on the dash that intermittently appears.
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I would not describe warning lights as minor, they mean something needs to be fixed as it is broken. A car with warning lights has a fault which should be fixed.
 
Yeah my main criteria was the interior and engine condition. I wanted as close to mint a cabin as possible and that was certainly the case. I knew I'd get the paint detailed no matter what car I bought so that was budgeted for anyway. I don't think the previous owners used the other 3 seats that much at all hence the excellent condition of the leather.

Even the steering wheel and gear knob were in good condition (though with some wear). Good enough to sell on for £120 and £20 meaning I got a retrimmed steering wheel for peanuts :cool:
 
panthro said:
They are a hassle because you will always find something that needs doing on it even if it's not out of necessity it will be something minor like an oil leak, or a warning light on the dash that intermittently appears.
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It will be a daily driver, this is one of my concerns, it has to be reliable. Which is why I figure I'll throw some $$ at it to get it up to scratch, in the short term. Approx 12k a year mileage I think, although need to verify that.

I honestly can't find anything else that ticks as many boxes. Don't fancy the newer model 3 series and don't really want to spend £15k+.
 
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[TW]Fox;28208364 said:
I would not describe warning lights as minor, they mean something needs to be fixed as it is broken. A car with warning lights has a fault which should be fixed.
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Thanks for stating the obvious.
 
I've only had it a month, there are only usually 2 oil leaks to look out for; the CPV valve and the timing change tensioner. The CPV is caused by a cheap O ring failure and the tensioner is the gasket. They are so minor I'm not planning to do them until mid next month.
I ran an E46 in 2010-2011 and had the usual snapped rear springs and replaced the starter motor. Apart from that it was normal running costs. I also had an E92, which apart from the seat belt arm breaking was also faultless.
My current E46 is a CS, which I got for a good price so just planning to do it up as a little project and then sell in the near future. It's needed a fair bit of work aside from the oil leaks it's needed new hand brake shoes, oil and brake fluid service, new side light rewiring, new rear alloy, new front brake sensor (warning light on the dash when I bought it but I knew what it was, £15 for a new one and 30 mins to fit), new plugs and coils and a few other things I can't remember now. Once it's all done I'll do a full post about what I've done with some pictures.
 
[TW]Fox;28195032 said:
Correct.

I personally have it set so that it only puts the Transmission into Sport if I move the shifter sideways. I'll often want Sport mode for the chassis without the transmission.
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Is there a way for it to stay in sports chassis all the time, or do I have to press the arrow everytime?
 
Last night I dreamt that I was in the process of purchasing an E46 M3 which had done over 500k miles :o there were 20 different BMW dealerships that had looked after it and I was calling them all to confirm what had been done...

:eek:
 
As people are talking about the strange iterations of the current 3 series, might as well post this here:

Got this today with 300 miles on it, which will be mine for a while....

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Brand new 430D MSport Gran Coupe. As a breakdown, this is a 5 door version of the 2 door version of the 4 door 3 series. Not to mention there already is a 3 series hatch in the shape of the GT, and an estate...not sure there are enough options?

First impressions are that it's actually pretty darn quick, 254bhp and 0-60 in 5.4 seconds thanks to the 8 Speed auto, and of course being a hatch it's fairly practical:

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Interior is imo a huge step down from the e92 in general feel and you can tell it is heavily based on the 1 series. This is a far cry from the f10 5 series i had over the weekend which was fantastically put together imo.

This is a courtesy car as mine is being repaired after a volvo tboned me on Thursday! It pulled out of a side street without looking, straight into the side of me, spinning me 90 degrees and causing a substantial amount of damage to the door and rear quarter, including the wheel which is now sat at a very strange angle.
 
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rG-tom said:
Interior is a imo a huge step down from the e92 in general feel and you can tell it is heavily based on the 1 series. This is a far cry from the f10 5 series i had over the weekend which was fantastically put together imo.
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It's such a shame they have done this with the 3 and 4 Series isn't it? It's basically got a big 1 Series interior whereas in the past it always felt like a smaller 5 Series (Especially the E46). The centre console is very cluttered and I've no idea why it still has a conventional handbrake, especially given most of them are automatic.
 
This is actually the one oddball iteration that I quite like. The 3gt is much improved over the 5 but still has that kinda odd arse end in the flesh - whereas these just look pretty normal yet have a hatch.

It is a shame about the interior though, it seems they design each iteration for those who have never set foot in an older model. If you'd never known a 3 to have an interior more aligned to the 5 you probably wouldn't think much of it. It's also worth remembering that it's still quite a bit nicer than your boggo focus/civic etc inside, as it should given list price difference - whereas the cost on private/business lease (which lets face it is how most are procured) isn't all that much higher for a 2 litre diseasel
 
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